Family of Illinois parade survivor Cooper Roberts, 8: 'Tough weekend,' told him he's paralyzed
Doctors: Cooper Roberts is improving but paralyzed from the waist down
An 8-year-old boy who was shot in the chest during the Highland Park Fourth of July parade is no longer using a ventilator and conscious for the first time since the incident, but doctors have confirmed that Cooper Roberts is paralyzed from the waist down, a family spokesperson said.
HIGHLAND PARK, Illinois - The family of Highland Park, Illinois parade victim Cooper Roberts, 8, said Sunday it's been "a very tough weekend" and that the boy is "in a great deal of pain – physically and emotionally – especially as the family had to share with him the devastating news that he is paralyzed from the waist down."
A spokesperson for the family said Sunday that Roberts is still in serious condition and will have another surgery on Monday to address damage to his esophagus.
The statement said that doctors at Highland Park Hospital now describe his injuries as resulting from a bullet that entered the abdomen, not the chest as previously believed, "injuring the left lobe of his liver, his esophagus near the stomach, his abdominal aorta and exited through his back injuring his spinal cord."
Roberts has been transferred to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital.